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Paula, best-known for her children's fantasy series, the Toby and Sox trilogy, lives in Somerset - almost 100 miles from the monument.

She said: "The Uffington White Horse has been a great British landmark for centuries, however its true form has always been shrouded in mystery.

"You only have to look at its head to see that it is not, strictly, a horse.

"We believe that the Uffington carving is actually one of a unicorn, a mythical creature known to have fascinated our ancient cultures and folklore."

Situated on the upper slopes of White Horse Hill, in the parish of Uffington, the 374ft-long carving - formed from deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk - has been shown to date back to between 1,400 and 600BC.

But its strange design, which varies significantly from other white horses in Britain, has sparked fierce debate among experts - including The National Trust - about whether it was intended to represent a horse or some other animal.

It has been referred to as a 'horse' since the 11th-Century, primarily because ancient scripts from nearby Abingdon Abbey refer to 'mons albi equi' at Uffington - or the White Horse Hill.

According to Paula the figure is "most likely" a unicorn - a mythical beast resembling a white horse with a large horn projecting from its forehead.

Its original horn, she argues, would have been removed by over-zealous Christian scholars in the 13th or 14th centuries.

She said: "While researching material for my new book The Rowan Tree I discovered the amazing story of Dragon Hill, which is next to the Uffington Horse and is said to be the spot where Saint George slew the dragon.

"The whole area is wrapped in legend and mystery and there is little doubt in my mind that the Church and its scholars would have done everything possible to prevent the continuing rise of regional folklore.

"It's plausible that they would have removed the horn in secret. Noah never led a unicorn into the ark, after all."

Paula added that work on the site will continue "the moment" they receive the backing of The National Trust.

But Richard Henderson, National Trust general manager for Oxfordshire, said: "There are so many mysteries and legends surrounding the white horse at Uffington, but we have no reason to believe that it was ever intended to represent a unicorn so we would have no intention of carrying out any work to change it."

This isn't the first time that the Uffington Horse has been at the centre of an identity battle.

In 2010, retired vet Olaf Swarbrick claimed that anatomically-speaking, the ancient carving was more akin to a dog.

In August 2002, the figure was defaced with the addition of a rider and three dogs by members of the "Real Countryside Alliance" (Real CA). The act was denounced by the Countryside Alliance.